Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1887-06-09

the GrayS filed off in a tripie-;ine formation,
each line containing about one til t!santl
fighting men, exclusive of officers When the
last line had gone some five hundred wards,
Ignosi put himself at the head of the BuiTa-
| loeS which regiment was drawn up in a
similar three-line formation, and gave the
| word to march, and off we went, l. needless
! TO say, uttering the most heartfelt prayers
| that [ might come out of that Job with a
whole skin. Many q queer position have /
| found IN self in, but never before in one
quite so unpleasant as the present, or one in
which My chance of coming off safe was so
| small.
; By the tim we reached the edge of the
| plateau the GrayS were already halfway
DOWN the slope ending in the tongue of
! grassland that ran up into the bend of the
mountain, somrtIiilis as the frog Of horses
J foot runs up in the shoe The excitement in
Twala's camp on the plain beyond was very
great, and regiment after regiment were
starting forward at long swinging trot in
| order to reach the root of the tongue of land
before the attacking force could emerge into
] the plain of Loo.
! This tongue Of land, which was some three
| hundred yards in depth, was even at its root
|
/ and fifty PAGES across, while at its tip it
scarcely measured sixty. The Grays, who,
in passing down the side of the hill and on
to the tip of the tongue had formed in
column, on reaching the spot where it
broadened out again reassumed their triple
| line formation, and halted dead.
Then we-that is, the Buffaloes-moved
down the tip Of the tongue and took our
stand in reserve, about one hundred yards
| behind the last line of the Grays, and on
| slightly higher ground. Meanwhile we had
| leisure to observe Twala's entire force,
which had evidently been reinforced since
| the morning attack, and could not now not
| WithStandiDg their losses, number less than
| forty thousand, moving swiftly toward us.
| But as they drew near the root of the tongue
| they heSitated, having discovered that only
| one regiment could advance into the gorge at
| time, and that there, some seventy yards
from the mouth OF it, unaSSailable except in
front, on account of the high walls of bowld-
er-Strewn ground on either side, stood the
| famous regiment of Grays, the pride and
| glory of the KukUana army, ready to hold
| the way against their forces as the three Ro-
| mans once held the bridge against thou
| sands. They heSitated and finally stopped
J their advance; there was no eagerness to
| cross spears with those three lines of grim
| warriors who stood So firm and ready. Pre-
| sently, however, tall general, with the Gus
| tOmary head-dresS of nodding Ostrich-plumes
came running up, attended by a group of
| chiefs and orderlieS, being, | thought, none
| other than TWaa Nmself, and gave an order,
| and the first regiment raised a shout, and
| charged up toward the Grays who remained
perfectly still and silent till the attacking
troops were within forty yards, and q volley
Of tolaS, or thrOWing-kniyeS, came rafting
among their ranks.
Then suddenly with bound and a roar,
they sprung forward with uplifted spears,
and the two regiments met in deadly strife.
Next second the roll of the meeting shields
came to our ears like the sound of thunder,
and the whole plain seemed to be alive with
flashes Of light reflected from the Stabbing-
spears. To and fro swung the heaving mass
of struggling, stabbing humanity, but not for
long. Suddenly the attacking lines seemed
to grow thinner, and then with a slow, long,
heaye the GrdyS passed over them, just as a
great wave heayes up and passes over a
| Sunken ridge. 1t was done; that regiment
was completely destroyed, but the GrayS had
but two lines left now; third of their num-
Der were dead.
Closing up shoulder 20 shoulder once more
they halle in silence and awaited attack
and was rejoiced to catch sight OF Sir Hen
3y'S yellow bear,l as he moved 20 and fro ar
ranging the ranks. 80 he was yet alive!
Meanwhile we moved up to the ground OF
the enc0unt +. which was numbered by
about f0ur thousand PROSTATE human be-
ingS dead. dyu-c. m woun'e l. an literal
~ stained red Nian 'ino;I. ignosi issued an
order, wh;c!I was taidly passc down the
RANKS, to the effect that none OF the enemies
wounded were to be killed, ami SO far as we
could see this order was Scrupu.ously carried
out. 1t would have been a shocking sight,
if we had had time to think Of it.
But now 4 second regiment, distinguished
by white plumes, kits, and shields, was
moving up to the attack of the two thousand
remaining Grays, who stood waiting in the
same OminOuS silence as before, till the foe
was within forty yards or so, when they
hurled themselves with irresistible force up
on them. Again there came the awful roll
of the meeting shields, and as we watched,
the grim tragedy repeated itself. BY this
time the issue was left longer IN doubt; in
deed it seemed for awhile almost impossible
that the GrayS should again prevail. The
attacking regiment, which was one formed
of young men, fought with the utmost fury,
anu dG uISb S6tulcu ny SHetl NoISuG W NC
driving the veterans back. The slaughter
was something awful, hundreds falling
every minute; and from among the shouts
of the warriors and the groans of the dying,
set to the clashing music of meeting spears,
came continuous Kissing undertone Of
''S'gee, s'gee," the note of triumph OF each
victor as he passed his spear through and
through the body of his fallen foe.
But perfect discipline and steady and I'M
changing valor can do wonders, and one vet
eran soldier is worth two young ones, as
soon became apparent in the present case
| For just as we thought that it was all up
with the Grays, and were preparing to take
| their place SO soon as they made room by be-
| ing destroyed, | heard Sir Henry's deep
voice ringing out above the din, and caught
| glimpse of his circling battle-aX as he
waved it high above his plumes. Then came
| change; the GrayS ceased to give; they
| stood still as a rock, against which the fur
| ious waves of spearmen broke again and
/ again, only to recoiL Presently they began
! to move again-forward this time; as they
| had no firearms, there was no smoke, so we
could see it all. Another minute and the